It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the city of Erfurt, the districts of Weimarer Land, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Hildburghausen, the city of Suhl, and the districts of Schmalkalden-Meiningen and Gotha.

In medieval times the territory was ruled by the counts of Henneberg and the princes of Schwarzburg, two local dynasties.

In the meantime the principality of Schwarzburg began to disintegrate and was split up into several tiny states.

One of those states (Schwarzburg-Arnstadt) was based in Arnstadt; it was founded in 1574 and existed until 1716, when it fell to Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

In its southern portions the district includes parts of the southeastern Thuringian Forest, among them the highest elevation of that mountain chain, the Großer Beerberg (982 m).